floyd3592 wrote:Gengulphus wrote:Sorry, but I can't start to answer this...
Why not? Because you haven't told me what else is in your HYP! Diversification is an important aspect of the comparative (*) safety of HYP dividend income
Of course diversification is important and I feel I am diversified but don't mind easing diversification limits in such unusual times to try and maintain dividends. My question was of those other shares that have taken a big capital hit which of them would be worth ditching BT for (if any).
Your first question was that - but you asked two questions! Specifically, with my bold to point out the second question: "
I am currently sitting on losses of 50% for RDSB, 43% for IMB, 47% for HSBC & 27% for Aviva. Would any of these make a better home for my money than BT? Or are there any other candidates who’s share price has dropped lately but might be a better home for my dosh?"
On the first question, I wouldn't describe any of the four shares you mention as a clearly better home for your money. Imperial Brands is probably the best of them - it's got the very long-term record, with both dividends and the share price very roughly 5-fold over the last 20 years, but it does seem to have lost its way over the last four years (interestingly, from about the time it changed its name from Imperial Tobacco...). If it can find its way again, it could well be a better home - but that's a pretty big 'if', so not
clearly a better home IMHO. Of the other three, RDSB strikes me as the best, but with dividends down on where they were 10 years ago (possibly just temporarily because of COVID-19), the very long-term share price trend only slightly upwards (ignoring the recent drop), and the increasing shift from fossil fuels to renewables, again I wouldn't regard it as clearly a better home. HSBC and Aviva have been rather mediocre HYP shares over the very long term, especially Aviva, and HSBC currently has the risk of Hong Kong going pear-shaped: jumping from BT to either of them has similar chances of being a jump from the frying pan into the fire or jumping from the fire into the frying pan IMHO.
So I regard Imperial Brands and RDSB as
possible better homes than BT - but neither of them as good enough to be worth stretching diversification limits for. Looking beyond your four suggestions (i.e. at your second question), Legal & General has already been mentioned and I would regard it as pretty clearly a better home than BT, worth stretching diversification limits for. But don't stretch them too far - if you've already got it and it's a highly-weighted holding in your HYP, it may be too risky to put even more of your eggs in that basket. And the same goes if you've already got a lot in the bigger basket that is the insurance sector, or the yet bigger basket that is financials.
I do still feel that I'd have a better chance of making useful suggestions if I knew what was already in your HYP...
Gengulphus